The present invention relates to a device for determining the orientation of an axis, mobile about a point, of a solid rotating about this axis, particularly of a gyroscopic spinner.
Let us consider a sphere, or a portion of sphere, moved in rotation about an axis, preferably its axis of symmetry, said axis being capable of a movement with two degrees of freedom, by means for example of a gimbal-type suspension, i.e. mobile about a fixed point.
It is already known to determine the orientation or to measure the angular coordinates of such a system by placing known angular sensors, such as potentiometers, inductive resolvers, optical coders, on the gimbal axes. However, it is often difficult to have access to the gimbal axes to install this type of sensor therein, either because the general dimensions of the suspension are too small relative to the size of the sensors, or because the gimbal-type suspension is partly concealed inside the spinner for example.
Moreover, when the two degrees of freedom of the axis are not allowed by a gimbal-type suspension, but by a ball joint, access is then physically impossible.
Moreover, all the existing sensors exert appreciable spurious torques on the axes of the suspension, which may falsify measurements.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these drawbacks and to propose a measuring device in which absolutely no torque is exerted on the spinner, and which can be reduced to a very small scale.